All Things New

I have been packing up my room this week.  So far, I have 6 oddly-shaped boxes stuffed and ready to take to my new apartment in Milledgeville.  My walls have been stripped of the posters, picture frames, etc. that have been there for years.  I packed up the two guitars that I don't play and stored them away.  A few days ago, I picked out which books are coming with me and which are staying- the ultimate torture method for a book lover such as myself.  Then I went through the same upsetting ordeal again with my music books last night (I actually held up my theory book from my first year of piano lessons and said, "But I might need this...").  This whole experience is especially significant to me because I've never done it before.  Though my family has moved before, I was too young to really care, and we've always stayed in the same area.  I'm not just moving out for the first time- I'm moving for the first time, period.  In less than three weeks.  Yikes.

There are a few things that make me sad about moving.  I not only dearly love but also really like my parents. I am going to miss them a lot more than the average person, because they are not your average parents. A lot of my family lives close to me, and I've never known what it's like to live more than twenty minutes from them.  I don't really want to find out. I am blessed with an incredibly supportive and lovely group of friends here that I'm sad about not seeing regularly anymore.  And my precious church family... maybe I should stop here.  I'm writing this in a public place and I do not have a cute cry.  The public place, in fact, is my favorite coffee shop (Bare Bulb Coffee) that I'm going to miss almost as much as my dog, who is just the best pup in the world.  Emotions are running high, folks.

All of this aside, though, I am filled with eager anticipation for what lies ahead:  new apartment, new room, new city, new school, new people, new lessons, new responsibilities, new experiences.  This is exciting, though a little scary.  Thankfully, I am not being forced to leave anything completely behind me, either.  This is a good thing.  I'm counting down the days.  

I am so thankful for what God has taught me this summer, and for the way He lovingly guided me through yet another difficult time in my life so that I could become a strong, confident, and joyful follower of Christ.  More than ever before, in the past few months I have seen the promise fulfilled that Jesus Christ makes me a friend of God.  I'm so glad to worship the King of kings who I know will remain constant when my world flips upside down in seventeen days.   I'm so in awe of the way that He always works at exactly the right time- for example, I'm ready to move now, but I realize now that I certainly wasn't ready 3 months ago.  

I usually like to write these posts about a huge life lesson that God has taught me, so I guess this one is a little bit different.  However, moving is one of the biggest things happening in my life right now.  I know that God is going to teach me a lot through it.  This, I suppose, is the preface to the many lessons that I will be writing about in the future.  I look forward to what those lessons will be.

Here's to new things, to growing in Christ, to becoming a better musician, to diligently pursuing a career.

Oh, and I'll be 20 years old in 11 days. Here's to growing up.